Saturday, June 25, 2011

There's a story behind the title of this recipe. Last night as we waited for Friday night check-ins, I decided to get a step ahead on breakfast preparation and make up my muffin and pancake batters. I was also experimenting a little and substituting canned sweet potatoes for the usual pumpkin in the muffin recipe. Unfortunately it was a typical Friday night and my labors were interrupted frequently by phone calls and requests for directions. When I was done the batter seemed unusually stiff, but I attributed it to the potatoes having less liquid than pumpkin, and decided to add some milk to make up the liquid. The texture still seemed wrong but I had guests to check in and other things to prepare, so I put it in a container in the fridge and moved on. The phone rang yet again. And that's when I saw it. Sitting right beside the phone. A bowl of sugar. You guessed it, the sugar that was supposed to be in the muffin batter. I must have had it in my hand when I answered one of the phone calls and set it down by the phone. So I removed the batter from the fridge and mixed in the sugar. It was with some trepidation that I made the muffins this morning. Would they turn out ok? Would the texture have been affected by the extra mixing and extra milk? Well, I'm pleased to report they were among the best muffins we've ever enjoyed at the inn. The flavor was wonderful and the texture just fine. Several guests asked for the recipe. So dear readers, as I share this recipe I'm not sure whether to give the recipe directions for the original or tell you to add the sugar last!
Either way I think you'll enjoy the flavor.

Sunday, June 19, 2011

These cookies are a Lancaster PA favorite that we often serve here, and I have given out the recipe with varied success. When Ann asked for the recipe this morning after breakfast I decided to post it and hope for your success. Let us know how they turn out for you! The key to chewy wonderfully soft snickerdoodles is in the baking, namely under baking. Even half a minute can turn chewy to crisp, not that they are not great crisp, they are just better soft. This was my mother's recipe handed down in true Pennsylvania Dutch fashion. At Christmastime she would cut up candied cherries to dot the center of the cookies.

A word to cinnamon. We use Saigon Cinnamon which is somewhat stronger and much more fully flavored than what you normally find in the spice section of the grocery. For really excellent spices including a wide variety of excellent cinnamons visit Penseys Spices, one of my favorite foodie websites ever. Not only are the spices there excellent there is a lot of good information.

Monday, June 6, 2011

The William Henry Miller Inn has just signed up to participate in a CSA (Community Support of Agriculture).
Sylvie (Queen of Breakfast) has done all the research for us and we have done all the paperwork to have this begin this week.
We're delighted to be supporting our local farms and are really excited to see what will arrive weekly!
Every Tuesday, there is a "Mini Farmers' Market" just two blocks from the Inn. That's where we'll pick up our bounty!
I'm sure that recipes will follow!

Saturday, June 4, 2011

I have been making these cherry delights for close to 30 years. The recipe was given to me by a friend I think. The thing about recipes given that long ago, you sometimes forget where you got them! . Sour cherries are plentiful in summer. My father had a small orchard and planted several sour cherry trees that produced the most beautiful dark red cherries. I pick and seed them in the summer and freeze them to make these beautiful muffins. Muffins? They are more like mini cakes!

Mix the wet ingredients together and add them all at once to the dry ingredients.
Gently mix to a batter and spoon onto the cherries in the muffin tins.
They will appear fullBake at 375F for 20 minutes
Remove from the oven and using a cookie sheet turn the tray upside down on the cookie sheet
Gently raise the muffin tin allowing the little upside down muffins to fall out
Serve to rave reviews